A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can hover, take off, and land vertically. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopter and other aircraft with powered rotors. Some VTOL aircrafts can operate in other modes as well, such as CTOL (conventional take-off and landing), STOL (short take-off and landing) and/or STOVL (short take-off and vertical landing). Others, such as some helicopters can only operate by VTOL. Some lighter-than-air aircrafts also qualify as a VTOL aircraft, as they can hover, take off, and land with vertical approach/departure profiles.
A current typical example of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft capable of generating lift without running on the ground is a helicopter. A helicopter has a large rotor, compared with its fuselage, and generates lift and thrust through rotating the rotor. Helicopters may be associated with some issues. For example, a fuselage of a helicopter has a relatively large size itself, and in addition, the helicopter is equipped with a main rotor larger in size than the fuselage and a tail rotor at the tail of the fuselage. Thus, if take-off, landing, or altitude control of a helicopter is performed in a small space surrounded by obstacles such as buildings or trees, the main rotor or the tail rotor may come into contact with the obstacles. Accordingly, a large space may be needed for the take-off and landing. Furthermore, helicopters can seat at most 30 passengers inside the cabin. There have also been known, though few in number of types, there is a fighter aircraft that perform vertical take-off and landing through changing the direction of the thrust derived from jet engines. The fuselage of a helicopter has a relatively large size itself, and in addition, the helicopter is equipped with a main rotor larger in size than the fuselage and a tail rotor at the tail of the fuselage. Thus, if take-off, landing, or altitude control of a helicopter is performed in a small space surrounded by obstacles such as buildings or trees, the main rotor or the tail rotor may come into contact with the obstacles. Accordingly, a large space may be needed for the take-off and landing. Furthermore, helicopters can seat at most 30 passengers inside the cabin.
A fighter aircraft capable of vertically taking off and landing uses a jet engine which emits high temperature jet exhaust with a large amount of jet exhaust, and thus people cannot be close to the fighter aircraft when taking off and landing. In addition small objects such as stones are blown off by the jet exhaust during take-off or landing, possibly damaging surrounding buildings or the like. Thus, also in the case of the fighter aircraft, a large space may be needed for the take-off and landing.
In light of this, there have been proposed some vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts capable of safe take-off and landing even in a small space. However, proposed vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts suffer from a number of limitations. For example significant vibration during flight is generated in wings and this vibration is transferred to the fuselage. On the other hand, aircrafts may carry avionics in their fuselage which are sensitive to vibration. Vibrations experienced by these avionics can negatively impact their lifetime. Furthermore, a vibration in the fuselage may cause the feeling of discomfort, anxiety, and stress for the passengers and may also negatively affect their health.
Furthermore, these vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts may be further associated with some issues such as infeasibility, high production cost, and high flight cost. In other words, due to many obstacles, they have not been able to be developed and built. Some of the most important reasons are the high cost of design, high cost of production, and high cost of maintenance. Furthermore these vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts have a limitation in number of passengers they can carry.
There is, therefore, a need for a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft that reduces vibrations in aircrafts wings and prevents the vibrations transfer to the fuselage. Furthermore, there is a need for a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) airplane with an ability to hold and carry up to 100 passengers that have a low flight cost and is able to be built and developed with a relatively low cost of design, production, and maintenance.